Last Night
by Dash-Rendar
Summary: Chapter 4 is up and the first three chapters have been revamped! Reviews on all would be nice! Chapter five to go up in two weeks or so
1. The Last Night

Bridge To Terabithia

The Last Night

A/N: I am completely revamping the story. This chapter was edited by B-Corvus Corvidae –M. Give him a shout out, eh?

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Jesse Aarons sat on his front porch, gazing up at the sky. It was as though God had had some unfortunate accident while carrying a palette of paints, spilling bright and vivid hues of deepest crimson, day-glow orange, sunburst yellow and, at the sky-sphere's zenith, the onset of the solemn blue depths of night's cloak being drawn over the sky. Here and there stars twinkled tentatively, as though afraid to show themselves for stage fright.

Jesse smiled thoughtfully. He picked up a sketchpad and drew.

Although it was only a rough outline that his pencil easily produced, there was something of the landscape's inherent beauty still residing within it. The picturesque scene before him was just so unremittingly _vivid_ that it was impossible not to draw it right, and Jesse felt as though the drawing had been hiding in the white paper just waiting for someone to draw it; the dark crowds of trees, the mountain-pocked horizon, the few clouds that were still around in this good weather and even the Burke house across the street.

But only so much can be done with pencil. Once Jesse felt he had the essence of the landscape captured on the page, he turned to his color pencils. He knew he could never quite get the deep crimson and day-glow orange that lay before him, but anything worth doing is worth doing properly.

While he was staring at the landscape, trying to choose just the right shade for that mass of forest which was so dun green as to be black, a darker patch of blackness moved through the shadows, flitting with such fleet of foot as to be almost invisible… at least, if it had feet, whatever 'it' was. Jesse laid aside his sketchpad and pencils.

'Think,' he thought to himself. 'You've just seen a shadow and you don't even know what it is. I bet you think you're really brave just marching into the unknown like this, huh? Think!'

And he thought… for less than a split-second. The call of adventure, the horn-cry of the unknown had always been the perfect bait for Jesse. It wasn't so much to do with his mind as his blood; the instinct of curiosity and impulse-action ran in his veins. He had about as much control over it as a flea does of the dog it lives on.

The sun had almost set completely, and the relentless onwards march of night's inky blackness made every tree's shadow look like some new and terrifying monster. Quickening his pace and zipping up his jacket properly to fend off the biting cold, Jesse moved on, hoping that in the least, should any monster attack, it should have a flashlight.

He knew the way. This was the path to the Bridge. Looking down, Jesse could just make out, by the ghost-light of the moon filtering down through the tree branches, some footprints in the dirt. They were human, unless there is a monster out there, which wears trainers. Although this was highly unlikely, it tells you something about Jesse's anxiety that he wasn't giving up on that possibility _just_ yet.

The silence pressed in on Jesse, and he felt it like a car in its crusher. The tonnage of un-sound in the air squashed his spirit as well as his ears, and Jesse felt that, if he didn't break the silence, it would break him.

"Whoever you are, show yourself!" he ordered bravely, the sudden burst of sound bolstering Jesse's courage. "This is private land!"

'Well… almost,' he reconsidered.

Whoever the footprints belonged to, they didn't seem to be making much of an attempt at covering them up; the tracks led straighter than an arrow with no smudging or vegetation in the way. Jesse followed them, realizing as he did so that the castle lay ahead.

There was not a living soul present outside the castle. However, Jesse could hear, just on the edge of audibility, loud and unsuppressed sobs emanating from… where? The tree house; it had to be. Grabbing the rope, Jesse went up.

"Who's there?" he asked before poking his head in, just in case.

"It's… it's just me." Jesse breathed a sigh of relief; it was only Leslie. However, something was clearly wrong. As he looked into the tree house Jesse saw a blur of movement; Leslie was hiding her hands, her arms buried in the coat she wore. "I just came out-" –her speech was interrupted by a chest-wracking sob- "-to do a bit of thinking."

"Don't tell me you expect me to believe that, Leslie," Jesse answered, trying to keep the contempt out of his voice. "Please… don't lie to me."

Jesse sat down next to Leslie, and she swiftly turned away, stifling another sob and wiping away the tears with her coat lest Jesse should see them up-close. It was too late, though; even from the tree-house entrance he'd seen the tears piled up in her eyes, making them glimmer and shine.

Leslie shook her head vehemently, eyes closed tight, making her blond hair swish into Jesse's face as he drew nearer, trying to console her.

"It's… nothing, really. I'm perfectly fine. I guess I'll go back home now."

"Leslie, wait!"

Leslie gave a gasp of shock. Jesse had grabbed onto her hand as she'd got up to leave, pulling it from her coat. It was clear for him to see the cuts on her wrists; the ugly black and red of freshly spilt blood trying to congeal.

"Leslie…" He looked at her with eyes full of pleading, willing Leslie to tell him _why_. She looked at him askance, her visage a rectos of apprehensive fear and sorrow. Jesse could see now that her eyes were red from the crying.

"Give me back my hand," she said, slowly and coldly, trying to dam up the emotion before it broke her. Jesse obliged, and Leslie hid her wrists again in her sleeve.

"Leslie, you've got to tell me-"

"I don't _have_ to tell you anything," said Leslie harshly. "But… but I choose to…" she said, her expression softening. Leslie went back to sit with Jesse, and looked him firmly in the eyes. "I tell you this on the one condition that it remains a secret between us."

"You have my word as your King," said Jesse solemnly, returning the stare just as steadily. "Now tell me, Leslie… why?"

"It's my parents," she began, every word a heart-wrench for Leslie. Sometimes she paused, quelling the rising sobs. "_My own parents_… they don't care about me. All they care about is their _blasted stories!_" Leslie suddenly shouted. Her anger quickly dissipated when she saw Jesse, calm as a pond on a windless day.

"You mean they don't pay you any attention?" he asked earnestly. Leslie nodded, a look of utter dejection and defeat lying heavily about her.

"They won't talk with me… heck, they won't even _eat_ with me anymore. Whatever important thing I have to tell them it's 'remind me later, honey' or 'not now, dear'. They didn't even listen to me when I was being bullied… you remember?" asked Leslie, this time her eyes doing the pleading. "That time you were away at your grandma's?"

The inevitable truth dawned on Jesse. It didn't take a brain-dead woodlouse to work out what was happening, now that she'd told him these things.

"And you think the answer is to cut yourself?" he asked, keeping his tone rock-steady.

A single tear emerged from Leslie's eye, bunching and then rolling down her cold and pale cheek until it dropped to the floor below, splashing on the floor.

"I… I just don't know anymore. I cut myself because it's like the only thing I have control over. I have no control over my parents, after all," she added, laughing in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with fun or humor. "I have no control over anything in my life except whether or not I bleed… or whether I die." Jesse sighed sorrowfully.

"Leslie… I'm your friend. Why didn't you tell me about this? You can trust me, because we're _true_ friends, right? True friends share each other's problems, but I can't do anything if you don't tell me."

"I know you're my friend, Jesse… and I'm your friend too… your _true_ friend. But… but…" Again Leslie's face contorted, all the pain she'd felt washing back into her mind. "But there's no way you could know how it feels to be turned away by your parents… have them blame you for everything that's going wrong, just because you want them to pay you just a _little_ bit of attention."

Jesse was astonished. He'd never imagined that the Burke family was like this. Indeed, that time when he'd seen them painting their living room… Jesse remembered the laughter, the sheer joy of that moment… one big happy family.

"You're right. There is no way I could know how that feels," Jesse answered, looking deep into Leslie's eyes. "But one thing I do know is that you don't really mean you want to kill yourself. Please tell me you don't mean that," he said desperately.

"I wish I did," said Leslie, her voice sounding empty and alone. "I can't take it any more, Jesse. There's nothing left inside me to stand up for myself… nothing but despair… loneliness… sadness. I want to commit suicide, but I can't… _I can't…_"

Her shoulders shook, the sob's tremors making Leslie's entire body tremble as she collapsed into Jesse's arms. Jesse accepted her, embracing Leslie tenderly.

"You don't need to worry anymore, Leslie. I'll do everything I can to help you, and I won't let go until you know in your heart that you're better again. I can't let you end your life because… well, that would be the end of me too. I only keep going because of you, Leslie."

The silence was almost absolute. Jesse's words were calming Leslie bit by bit, until she pulled back a bit, allowing both of them to gaze into each others' eyes.

"Leslie… I can't put this any other way. _I love you_."

And the waterworks started all over again, only this time Leslie's tears were more of joy than sorrow.

"I love you… I love you," she repeated to herself, over and over as though she couldn't believe it. Finally coming to terms with it after having cried into Jesse's shoulder, Leslie pulled herself upright again, her eyes shining with tears. "Jesse… I love you too. You have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that. You have no idea…"

Jesse held Leslie close, enfolding her in a gentle hug. However gentle it was, there was a kind of tender fierceness in the way he held her; a clear message. _She's mine, and I'm gonna protect her from everything; come rain or shine, Heaven or Hell._

"You're never going to spend a night alone again," said Jesse. He didn't know where the words were coming from; he just wanted something to say to Leslie to prove his love, and the words were there, just waiting to be said… just like the picture. "I'll be everything you need and more. This is officially your last night away from me."

There are moments in time when everything is perfect, and everything that has happened in the past is now so clearly only there to make this single moment. In such moments life was first created on Earth, David felled Goliath… and Jesse kissed Leslie.

'Think!' said Jesse's hindbrain again. 'Don't just kiss her; you could wreck the moment if she doesn't like it!'

And he thought… for less than a split-second. But, in the end, he had about as much control over this action as a fly in a hurricane. Jesse just went with it.

Leslie, although surprised, reacted to the kiss in the way Jesse had been hoping so much that she would. Neither of them knew how to kiss properly, but such intimate contact was enough to let the floodgates of unspoken emotion pour out between them, and finally they understood their love for each other.

'Somebody loves me,' thought Leslie, as she felt Jesse pulling away and pulled him back to keep the kiss going, wanting this moment to last forever. _'Somebody actually loves me.'_

"Thank you so much, Jesse," said Leslie, after the kiss had reluctantly ended. "You're all I want. Please… don't _ever_ leave me."

"On one condition," said Jesse, smiling slightly; "don't you ever leave me." Leslie smiled back. Jesse realized that this was the first time this whole night that she'd smiled, and somehow, even though it was in the pitch-black of night, a little sunbeam of light lit up Leslie's face.

So they fell asleep together, the two lovers still nestled in each other's arms. The darkness didn't matter, because they could feel each other rather than see. The cold didn't matter, because they shared their warmth…

…and the loneliness didn't matter anymore, because they were _together_.

The moon shone on through the night, casting its silver beams onto the sleeping couple as they lay in that nightlong embrace. In their sleep, Jesse and Leslie shared a dream; their love didn't allow them to be parted, even in unconsciousness. They dreamed of the only thing that could possibly be better than this.

They would be together… forever.


	2. The Older I Get

Bridge To Terabithia

The Older I Get

A/N: Here's the next chapter. This one will be directly after The Last Night and it will show how stressed the relationship between Jesse and his father is. Next chapter will be titled Those Nights. Preview is on my profile for the chapter. Have a look if ya want.

Until then, read this story! I based it off the lyrics to The Older I Get by Skillet so I don't own the novel, movie or lyrics.

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The sun once again graced the world with its golden rays, raising animals and people alike from their slumber. Jesse Aarons Junior was one of those people. Eyes opening, he couldn't help but squint reflexively as the early morning sun shone in his eyes from a gap in the trees. Blinking a few times as he tried to sit up, he realized that Leslie was still snuggled in against his chest. Smiling, he leaned down and lightly kissed her forehead. "Good morning Sleeping Beauty," he said.

Stirring, she lifted her torso away from him and stretched, nearly smacking him in the face with her arm. "Good morning yourself, Prince Charming,' she replied with a laugh. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well, actually. I could ask you the same question because something tells me I'm not exactly the best pillow in the world," Jesse replied as they both stood and made their way out of the tree house. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was just almost 6:00. "We should be getting home – school's starting soon."

She nodded, quickly wiping some left over sleep from her shiny blue eyes. "I'll meet you at the bus stop at 7:00 then, my King," she replied, entwining her fingers through his as they walked down the dusty dirt road. The normally short distance between the two houses was normally covered in about fifteen seconds, but today, they walked down the road quietly, not saying anything, almost as if from fear of scaring the other.

At his driveway, Jesse reluctantly released his hand from her, but only for a brief moment before pulling her into a hug, planting another kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you later."

Leslie smiled. "Okay," she replied, slowly pulling away from him and headed off to her house across the way, a huge smile plastered on her face.

He opened the door quietly and slipped inside, kicked his shoes off and made his way upstairs to his room that he shared with May Belle. Quickly stripping off his clothes and placing them in the hamper, he climbed into bed to make it look like he had been asleep the whole time.

The alarm went off, so he rolled over and slapped it off as he did every morning any way. His father would be along in about ten minutes to wake him up. He was a bit tired still, so he savored what time he had left.

"Up and at 'em, Jesse," said Jesse Aarons Senior as he came in. Jesse Aarons Junior rolled over and pulled his cushion down over his head. "Breakfast is on; your mom made pancakes this morning. You better get downstairs if you want any." He turned and left, allowing Jesse a few moments of blissful silence.

'That went better than expected,' Jesse thought to himself as he got dressed in new clothes. A white t-shirt, a black sweater and some blue jeans. Simple, yet effective for getting his chores done. Jesse headed downstairs, walked into the kitchen – and saw his father, righteous anger written all over his face.

"You want to explain why you didn't come home until 6:00 this morning?" Jesse Sr. exploded, arms flailing. "You had us all worried sick, not to mention you had Brenda thinking you were off nailing the Burke girl from across the street!"

Jesse sighed as he sat down and ripped into a stack of pancakes. "Dad, I'm 14 years old. You'd think you could give me a little bit of respect and privacy. For all you know, I just went for a walk." He swallowed a bit of orange juice and took a bite of bacon.

"Yes, you're 14, but that doesn't mean you can go wandering all over the countryside without telling us first! We at least deserve that common courtesy!" his father said, sitting down opposite him. "Now you're gonna tell me where you were last night, boy, or God help me, you'll be on the floor faster than you can say Momma."

Jesse shrugged. "I was talking with Leslie. I saw her running off to the back woods and followed to talk to her because I figured something was up. She left after a bit and I dozed off. Nothing happened." He rose, putting his dishes in the sink.

His father stood as well and said, "Oh trust me, I know that kinda lingo, son. I was your age at one point. 'Dozing off' usually meant you did something in bed. All I can say is I won't be helping look after some kid that she gets pregnant with. I got my hands full enough, trying to feed all of you kids and Mom needs diapers for the baby, so that tends to rack up after awhile." He nodded at the door. "Now go get to your chores. After that's done, you're going to come in and do your homework. As of now, I'm forbidding you from seeing the Burke girl."

Jesse stopped. "You're doing what?" he asked, incredulous.

"You heard me. I will not let you see that Burke girl. She's now off limits, as is her family. I catch you hanging around with her, I'll be making sure you remember I caught you." The old man waved at the door, his voice and eyes stone cold. "Get going."

Jesse stormed out the door and yelled "THIS ISN'T FAIR!" before he slammed the door behind him. He went about his chores, but doing them very slowly and sloppily as a sign to show his obvious discontentment with the whole situation. Glancing at his watch again, he saw he had enough time to grab his backpack and make it to the bus stop to meet Leslie.

He jogged the way there and he couldn't help but let a smile come to his face as he saw Leslie standing by the old beat-up stop sign. He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, causing her to sigh happily, leaning into his chest. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you," he said.

Leslie looked puzzled. "Is something wrong?" she asked, turning around in his arms to face him, staring him directly in the eyes. "Your parents were mad about you coming home late, right?"

As the bus pulled up, he nodded. "Dad says I'm not allowed to see you anymore. But this is a rare case when he's actually wrong about something. He completely overreacted!" They both climbed onto the bus to a round of 'Jess and Leslie up in a tree' from the third graders. Jesse wondered briefly how this idiotic preschooler rhyme had come into being, considering how uncomfortable sitting in the boughs of a tree is, letting alone kissing in one.

Ignoring it, they sat down as the bus started moving again in their regular seat, but under the cover of the back of the leather seat in front, entwined fingers. This was all they would be able to do without the eight graders making some snotty remark.

'Thank goodness we have all the same classes,' Jesse thought to himself as they reached the schoolyard. 'I'd be going nuts without her around.'

Recess was a pleasant break from 'Loud Mouth Myers', letting them freely express their obvious love for one another. But, as usual, Scott Hoager was on the prowl and came by, trying to rip off Leslie's bag. Jesse wouldn't have any of that. "Leave her alone Hoager," he said, his voice lower than normal, sounding dangerous.

The orange haired bully laughed. "What, you gonna make me Aarons? I'm surprised you can lift your pencil every day to copy the notes on the board!" His cronies starting laughing stupidly, as they always did when Hoager insulted someone.

"I'm warning you Hoager. I've had it up to here" –Jess moved his hand up to eye level – "with you. Now shut your loathsome cavity-filled mouth. Don't make me do something I definitely won't regret later." He grabbed Leslie's hand and pulled her off without another word, but Hoager wouldn't take the hint.

"Protecting your _girlfriend_ Aarons?" he sneered, making the word 'girlfriend' sound greasy like eggs in a skillet on Sunday morning.

With that, Jesse whirled, his already formed fist connecting with Hoager's nose with a CRACK. Before the bully could blink, Jesse's knee was in his gut, sending him to the ground like a sack of potatoes falling from a truck on a highway. "I warned you Hoager… Maybe you'll shut up now and again. Now I've got about ten minutes left of recess and I wish to spend them with Leslie… undisturbed, got it?"

Moaning on the ground was Hoager's only response.

Jesse nodded. "Now that that's settled, let's go Leslie." He grabbed her hand and they set off again, just as the bell rang. Sighing, he said, "Let's try this again at lunch, okay?"

She smiled, and once again Jesse felt that electric thrill he always did when Leslie showed that he'd made her happy. She was happy about him standing up… not just for her, although that was really cool, but also standing up for himself. It was the principle of not letting people turn you into a doormat that Leslie liked best.

The school day ended much too quickly for his taste and he had to return home. At the bus stop, he waited until the bus and May Belle, who had to walk to school because she missed the bus, were out of sight before kissing Leslie on the lips.

Her body nearly went limp at the feeling of full lip contact, so she wrapped her hands around his neck, for support of her body and to lengthen the kiss. Reluctantly, she pulled back after a minute. "I guess you have to go home now. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He smiled. "Okay. I love you Leslie. Don't forget that."

"Never. Not for as long as I live." They kissed once more and then parted, going their separate ways.

Walking inside, Jesse did his homework as his father had told him, but in his room instead of the kitchen as he normally would. The door opened and his father came in. "Homework done?"

Jesse didn't even answer. He kept working on the math problem that was in front of him, trying desperately to remember what Leslie taught him. After his father repeated his question, he burst out, "_No_, it's _not_ done! And, for your information, Mr. Control Freak, _you_ are not helping!"

"Grounded boy! You are NOT leaving this house unsupervised! You will do your chores! You will do your homework and you will help around this house until bedtime! IS THAT CLEAR?"

Jesse replied by slamming his math book shut and throwing onto the floor. "You know what? I don't care what you say anymore! You've got your puffed up head so far up your own ass you can't tell up from down!" He stormed passed him and sat down at the table, ready to eat.

The family sat down together, Jesse Senior blessed the meal and they all ate in silence, because the tension in the air was so thick you could almost cut through it with a hot knife and spread it on a toasted muffin. Jesse Junior was done first, so he got up, put his dishes in the sink, saying, "Great dinner Mom."

Heading upstairs to avoid his father, who was still obviously completely livid, he pulled out his sketchpad and started to draw. The pencil skimmed effortlessly across the blank canvas and before he knew it, he had completed a sketch of Leslie's face. It was rough, but it wasn't bad for someone who had never drawn people before.

The next morning, Jesse got up, did his chores and bolted off to the bus stop. There was Leslie, her blonde hair shimmering slightly in the morning sun. As soon as he was within earshot, he asked, "You know that saying, 'Time heals all wounds?'"

She looked puzzled but nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Well, this wound is going to be bleeding awhile. I yelled at Dad last night. Just made things worse."

Months went by of the same never-ending cycle. Chores, school, homework, drawing and sleep, repeat until mundane. Except, the bond between the two lovers was so strong that it was as if they were in each other's heads.

It was now May, almost the end of school and Jesse was still grounded and he finally said to his dad, "You realize you're just building a bigger wall between us with this, right? Or is that what you want? Being separated from your only son?" He sighed, shaking his head and dug into his meal.

Mr. Aarons sighed. "You're right, I'm afraid. I have been acting like quite a snob lately. I just don't want you doing anything you'd regret. I was your age and I never finished school because your mother and I made a mistake. I don't want you to have to do the same thing. Is that wrong?"

"I guess not," Jesse responded, taking a swig of his milk before staring his father directly in the eyes. "Dad, you need to realize that I know what I'm getting myself into. I don't think having a friend is going to kill me and you're just making it a pain in my rear. All I'm asking is for a little bit of freedom. I can understand not dating yet, but at least allow us to hang out."

Jesse Senior nodded his head. "I guess I did overreact a little bit about the whole tree house incident and I do owe you an apology for that. You can hang out with Leslie, but I don't want you doing anything stupid. Got it?"

Jesse smiled. "Yes sir. So I'm ungrounded now?" He finished his meal, putting the dishes away in the sink as he always did. Jesse turned back to his father. The response he gave made Jesse smile from ear to ear.

"Yes son, you're no longer grounded, but I'm establishing some guidelines. I want you home by 9:30 every night and if you think you're going to be out later than that, let us know beforehand. You will also ask permission before going. Fair enough?"

Jesse nodded. "Yes sir. Thanks Dad." He gave his father a hug and jogged to the door, kicked his shoes on and said, "I'm heading over to Leslie's. Be back around 9:30 or so!" He closed the door to his father's closing remark.

"You better be back by 9:30 or there'll be HELL to pay!"


	3. Those Nights

Bridge to Terabithia

Those Nights

A/N: This is chapter 3 of the story everybody! I thank all who took time to review or added me to a favorite list of some sort by dedicating this chapter to you. Your reviews mean the world to me because I personally don't think I'm that great of an author. Every little encouraging word helps make me better.

This chapter is based off the lyrics to Those Nights by Skillet. This is three years after chapter two.

Later this week, I will be posting a new story that will contain basic LDD stories and I'll close it off with a few stories where Jesse is dead. It doesn't have a title as of yet, so look out for it!

Now, a quick note that I don't own Bridge to Terabithia (novel or otherwise) or the lyrics to Those Nights off which I based this chapter.

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Jesse walked back to the house, dog in hand. He'd had a good time playing out there and PT was _still_ having a very good time out there, but his mind was otherwise preoccupied with other, more gloomy thoughts.

'Could they have forgotten…?' he asks himself. Imagine if you will, a small dark thundercloud over Jesse's head.

Grumbling to himself, Jesse opened the door.

"_Surprise!_ Happy Birthday Jesse!"

After Jesse had fought off his initial reaction to throw the dog at the scary surprise people and run for it, his face cracked into one of those big silly smiles that you always make when lots of people are watching, even thought you know it looks absolutely idiotic.

He put the small dog down and moved forward, smiling. "Thanks guys, you completely had me fooled." He sat down at the table and blew out the candles… all 17 of them as he made a wish. After a few cheers, Jesse asked, "Where's Dad?"

His mother replied, "He had to work late tonight at the store, so he sent along his birthday wishes." She handed him a knife and some plates. "You wanna cut the cake or should I do it?"

"Gimme that thing!" he said laughing. He quickly and evenly cut the cake into 6 pieces – one for him, his parents, May Belle (who was insisting to be called May), and Joyce Ann and a piece for Leslie. "Well, let's eat this before it gets stale!"

Everyone quickly dug into the chocolate cake as presents were passed around, May and Joyce Ann being quite insistent he open theirs first. Jess finally consented after a bite of cake and took May's present first, making a big deal of shaking it around, asking, "What is it, I wonder?"

May looked at him with a laugh and said, "Just open it silly. You'll see what it is in a minute."

Jess quickly slit the tape on the side of the wrapping paper so they could save it, even though it was cheap stuff. Inside sat a 1987 Chevrolet Corvette model kit, complete with paints. He smiled and gave his sister a kiss on the cheek, much to her embarrassment. "Thanks May. You can help me build it if you want."

She smiled happily. "Okay."

Joyce Ann then produce a messily wrapped gift and said, "How about mine Jess?" She slid the gift to him, a shy smile on her face.

"Wonder what this one could be?" he said, quickly opening it to reveal a large box. Frowning, he said in a cute voice, "That wasn't very nice. All you got me was a box?"

Joyce Ann laughed, saying, "No, your present is IN the box, silly!" She was only 7 so many things amused her greatly. This was one of them, apparently.

Jess showed a look like he had never thought of that. "Oh, it's in the box! Why didn't I think of that?" he asked, smacking himself in the forehead, causing the room to burst into laughter. He grinned as he opened the box to reveal a small key chain with a flashlight on it and a nametag. "Thanks Joyce. I can use it to hold my house key. Now I won't lose it anymore."

Nancy nodded at Leslie. "Go ahead dear, give Jess your present. I have to wait until Dad gets home because I accidentally left his gift in the truck." She smirked to herself as everyone showed a confused look. "Go ahead and open her gift Jess."

"Okay, okay! I'll open it! Calm down Mom!" he said as he took a brightly wrapped box from Leslie's outstretched arms. "I can tell this is going to be good. Anything from my girlfriend has to be good," he said, causing Leslie to blush slightly.

"Well," Leslie asked, "are you going to open the thing or not? Don't tell me the King has lost his luster for birthdays." Everybody laughed at the comment, all except Joyce Ann remembering Jess and Leslie's excursions into Terabithia as younger kids.

Opening the gift quickly, he came across another box. "I thought we'd been over this," Jess 'complained.' "It's not nice to give somebody an empty box for his birthday!" He made a grumpy looking face as everyone chuckled. "I know, it's inside, right?"

Leslie shook her head, her dyed brown hair swishing to the sides. "Just open the box Jess or I'll be forced to make an example of you to the kids here."

He looked at her, showing obvious doubt. "You make an example of me? This ought to be good. Try it." He leaned back in his chair, curious as to what Leslie had come up with. He nearly fell over when Leslie walked over, sat down on his lap and kissed him fully on the lips, causing Joyce Ann to cry "EWWWW!" as she did whenever somebody in the house got kissed.

"Happy birthday Jess. Now, open your present," she said, moving back to her seat, leaving Jess sitting in his chair with a stunned but happy look on his face.

He nodded. "You put me in my place, that's for sure." He opened the box in front of him and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. A professional painters kit lay inside, similar to the one she had gotten him for his birthday 6 years ago, but his name had been stenciled into the wood in black letters. "Wow," he muttered, staring at the box in disbelief. "This is… wow." He rose and gave Leslie a hug, planting a small kiss on her cheek. "This is the best gift you could've given me, Les."

She smiled at him, saying, "You deserve it Jess. But I think your dad has a gift that will make that pale in comparison." Sure enough, a loud engine rumble came in from the driveway.

Jess looked out the window and nearly passed out cold from the sight that was before him. A brand new F-150 pickup truck sat in the driveway with a giant bow atop the roof. Jess Aarons Senior sat in the bed with Mr. and Mrs. Burke waved from the cab. "How… when… OH MY GOSH!" Jess stuttered before yelling and running outside to see the truck.

Jess Senior smiled. "Thought you'd like it. We all chipped in to buy it. You know how I'd been saving up money since last year for what I claimed was a new tractor? Well, this is a pretty big tractor, eh?" He grinned as he handed his son the keys. "You gonna take it for a spin?"

"You bet!" Jess said as he climbed into the cab, settling down and grinned. "Now I know what the key chain was for." He started the truck, hearing the low rumble of the engine for the first time. He was about to shift into reverse when he looked at Leslie. "You coming or what?"

She looked at her parents for approval. Her dad smiled and said, "Get outta here" and waved his hand in a dismissing motion. She smiled broadly and clambered into the cab, buckled her seatbelt as the truck went into reverse and onto the beaten dirt road.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Jess spoke up. "I've been meaning to tell you something Les," he said, staring out the windshield at the empty road ahead of him. "You're the main reason I'm here. Remember how me and Dad would always be fighting and I'd just sit up talking to you in the living room?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah, those were some of the best nights ever. Sure, you were doing more talking then me, but you needed some venting time."

"Well, those nights were what kept me alive," he said quietly as he made a turn at the end of the road, heading back to his place. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for and I want you to know you mean the world to me."

She smiled as Jess made a quick stop at a crossroads to make sure nothing was coming. Leaning over, she turned the engine off, making Jess look at her funny.

"What was that for?" He never finished his thought as Leslie leaned over, kissing him on the lips again. A small slice of heaven on earth, he thought to himself.

After a minute, she pulled back. "You like those nights so much, then why not spend the night here? Just listen to the radio instead of watching TV. Pull the truck to the side of the road and let the stars and moon light us up."

He smiled. "Now that is the best birthday gift I could ask for." He turned the engine over and pulled the truck to the side of the road. "Parents will get worried, won't they?"

Leslie responded by curling up next to him, her head on his shoulder. "Maybe…"

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A/N: There's chapter 3 done folks! Hope you all enjoyed! Next chapter should be up sometime next week. Keep an eye out for it!

Until then…

Love, peace and chicken grease!

Dash


	4. Must Have Done Something Right

Bridge to Terabithia

Must Have Done Something Right

A/N: Here's chapter 4. I based this chapter off of the song Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K. The last chapter is in the works and will be finished early next week and then I'll be posting my story of LDD stories. Just so ya know, each chapter will not tie into the next in that story. Just basic stuff that came out of my imagination, but sadly, I usually use songs for inspiration, so you will notice that a lot in my writing.

Moving onto this chapter, it will be set after Grade 12 for Leslie and Jess, so they're 18 now and Jess is getting ready to leave for Arts College.

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Jess stood in his room, putting the final things into his suitcase as he went off to the arts college in Ohio. The shirts were folded neatly atop his jeans, socks and sleepwear on the bottom. Books were going into a duffel bag, along with his art supplies, which he now kept in the large painting box Leslie gave him last year for his birthday.

Sighing, he took one last look around before latching his suitcase and throwing his toiletry bag into the duffel bag. So many memories were made in this house and it was hard leaving them there. Birthdays, Christmas holidays, the birth of May Belle and Joyce Ann… meeting Leslie… Picking up the bags, he went downstairs and sat down at the table. His mom would be up in a few minutes to make breakfast.

Sure enough, Nancy came down a few minutes later, seeing Jess at the table. "Well, good morning Mr. College Man," she said cheerfully, moving to the stove. "Any final requests for breakfast before you get stuck on that horrible dorm food?"

He laughed as he spoke. "One homemade omelet with green peppers, bacon and a pinch of Mrs. Dash," he said, referring to the cooking spice that took the place of salt and tasted a lot better in his opinion.

She nodded. "Coming right up." As she set to work, the doorbell rang. "Oh, could you get that Jess?"

He nodded as he got up. Heading to the door, he saw Leslie standing there, looking a bit forlorn. He opened the door and smiled sadly at her as well before kissing her lightly on the lips, a feeling he was going to miss at college. "I know you're sad I'm leaving, but I'll be back for Christmas," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist as they walked into the kitchen.

"I know, but that's four months from now," Leslie whined, sitting down beside Jess at the table. "What am I going to do for that long? I mean, we're done school, Mom and Dad are busy with their new novels and I'm stuck here without you."

"You have breakfast yet Leslie?" Nancy asked, sitting Jess's plate in front of him along with a piece of buttered toast. "I can make you the same as him if you'd like."

Leslie grabbed Jess's fork and took a small bite from the egg, swallowing it and nodded. "Sounds good Mrs. Aarons. Hold the bacon please. I'm trying to cut back on the high fat foods." She wrapped an arm lovingly around Jess's shoulders and leaned her head on his shoulder, almost as if it was becoming an extension of his body. "Are you sure you can't stick me in your suitcase?"

He laughed, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "I wish I could, Leslie. But there are three main reasons I can't. First, my suitcase is quite small and even though you're small for your age, you won't be able to fit. Secondly, my suitcase is very old and it would break if you even tried to fit in it and then I wouldn't be able to hold my clothes so I'd have to go to college naked and then I'd get kicked out for indecent exposure." He laughed with her for a second before heading back to the third reason. "Thirdly, the dorms aren't coed, so I'd get kicked out for that."

The second plate come out and was set in front of Leslie. "Thanks Mrs. Aarons," she said and began eating.

Jess shook his head, his eyes slightly glazed over as he stared at her. "I still can't figure it out."

She looked at him funny. "Figure out what?" she asked, taking another bite of omelet.

"How I ended up with you. I mean I'm happy it worked out. Pardon the cliché here but every day I spend with you is the new best day of my life. I must just be lucky."

She smiled and said, "You're not lucky. I think its fate, Jess. I didn't just come along to rearrange your life, did I?"

He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, my grades _did_ improve drastically when you showed up, so maybe you were sent to rearrange me. I must've done something right to deserve that now, eh?" He chuckled and finished his breakfast, placing the dishes into the sink before lugging his bags out to his truck, placing them in the bed.

Leslie followed, leaning against the bed. "Just don't work yourself too hard, okay? I don't want you coming home all worn out to the point that we can't talk anymore." She smiled and gave him another kiss, drawing it out as much as possible. Four months without seeing Jess was torture enough, but not being able to kiss him? "Hope you like your courses." She started to turn around when Jess said something.

"Hey, Leslie. There's something I've been meaning to ask you, but I could never find the right time or the right words to say it, but I found both." He smiled as he felt his jacket pocket.

Surprised, she turned around, curiosity showing in her eyes. "Oh really? What would that be, Master Aarons?" She tilted her head to the side, a move she did only when she was truly puzzled, but she had a pretty good idea where he was headed. _Might as well play along,'_ she thought to herself.

He pulled out a small box from his pocket, flipped it open as he simultaneously dropped to one knee. "Leslie Anne Burke, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Leslie's eyes widened, and Jesse was seriously scared for a moment that she'd faint. Perhaps making it a surprise hadn't been such a good idea.

Leslie felt behind herself for a chair, and slowly collapsed into it, her heart still unable to continue beating due to sheer overwhelming shock. 'Am I dreaming?' she thought to herself, closing her eyes and reopening them to see if her disbelief was justified or not. After opening her shining blue orbs once more, she still saw Jesse Aarons Junior, her one true love and friend, in his driveway. His right knee was up at a 90-degree angle, his left on the ground and his right hand was extended, a black velvet box with a gorgeous engagement ring held in his fingers. "Jess… are you serious? Please tell me you're not kidding me."

"I told you. I was waiting for the right time and I could never bring myself to say those simple words. Oh, did I mention that I'm not going to Ohio now? I'll be doing my courses through Distance Education, so I'll be doing my courses at home. We can plan the wedding while I work on my degree."

Squealing with joy, she rushed at him, nearly knocking him onto the ground in an attempt to hug him to death. "Jess, of course! I've waited for those words for the longest time!" Her eyes were filled with unshed tears as she kissed him like she'd never kissed him before.

He pulled back, a very hard task under the circumstances. "Shouldn't we…" He was only about to get out two words at a time before being pulled into another kiss. "tell your… parents about… this?"

Leslie pulled back, nodding. "I suppose we should. Why let us be the only happy couple here?"They ran off, eager to tell the good news to her parents. Bursting through the front door, she yelled, "MOM! DAD! LIVING ROOM!"

Judy and Bill came down, both still in their housecoats. "What is it Leslie? Oh, hi Jess. How are you? Ready for college?" Bill asked, sitting down on the couch next to his wife, who looked slightly tired.

"I have good news, bad news and great news. Which do we want first?" Jess asked, eying Leslie and he winked, causing Leslie to giggle like a giddy schoolgirl.

Judy said, "Let's start with the bad news I suppose. Can only get better from there." She leaned back into the couch, a large mug of coffee in her hand.

"Bad news is I won't be going to college after all." This set both parents into an apology mode, but he waved at them, telling them to stop. "The good news is I'll be able to do my courses through Distance Ed, so I can stay home and do them so I can still get my degree."

Bill nodded. "Good plan. A lot less stress involved with that. That's how I finished college. I finished a lot faster at home than I would at an institution. So, that's the good and the bad news out of the way. What's the great news?"

Jess looked at Leslie and asked, "You want to tell them or should I?"

She smiled as she asked, "At the same time?" She intertwined the fingers on her left hand into those of his right.

He nodded. "On three… One… Two… Three…"

At the same time, they both said, "We're getting married!"

Bill blinked a few times, as if unsure he had heard them correctly. "You're getting married?" he asked.

"There must be an echo in here somewhere," Judy said sarcastically as she rose to hug her daughter. "Congratulations honey. Any idea when the date will be?"

Jess shook his head. "Not as of yet. I'd like to get married sometime in the summer, but we'll work out the details later. Right now, I need to get my forms mailed off to Ohio Tech to finalize my transfer to DE."

Bill smiled. "Well, all I can say is you did the right thing in all cases, my boy. Good job!" He rose to give Jess a hug and a slap on the back.

"I think so, Mr. Burke. I think I must have done something right, but I'm not sure what just yet."

"You aren't?" asked Leslie, smiling so that Jesse couldn't even remember that she'd ever frowned or cried. "I thought the answer was staring you right in the face."

Although he could have kissed or hugged Leslie again for what would have been the trillionth time, what Jesse did instead was solemnly take her hands in his.

"I guess it is. Thanks. You've been answering the question that's been bugging me all day long."

"And what's the answer?"

Jesse gazed lovingly at Leslie, fixing in his mind the idea that they were now going to be together forever… just like they'd dreamed, that night back in the tree house.

"The answer is… I chose the right person to love."

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